In his first 100 days in office, Biden:
- Signed 42 Executive Orders
- Visited 9 states
- Had 40 appointees confirmed
- Signed 11 pieces of legislation
- Held 1 solo formal news conference
[NBCNews 4/29/21]
Biden’s first speech to the Congress was watched by 26.9 million people on TV. President Trump’s first speech to the Congress was watched by 47.7 million people, his last speech was watched by 37 million people. [Morning media 4/30/21]
Vice President Harris has cast four tie breaking votes as of May 1st, 2021.
Biden initially maintained the limit of refugee admissions to 15,000 per year, the same limit imposed by Trump last year. That lack of action brought the rath of the liberal community upon him and so he raised the cap to 62,500 for this year, even though he acknowledges it cannot be accomplished this fiscal year. He also announced that the intended goal for refugee admissions in the coming year is 125,000. [Punchbowl News 5/3/21]
President Biden has committed the United States to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 50% below its 2005 emissions levels by 2030. He has appointed former Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry as his special presidential envoy for climate. Gina McCarthy, his White House Climate Czar, will lead the newly formed office of Domestic Climate Policy. [CNN politics 4/22/21]
The Biden administration has announced that it will provide protections again discrimination in health care based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The reversal is a victory for transgender people and undoes what had been a significant setback in the movement for LGBTQ rights. [WP 5/10/21]
When looking at the first 100 days of the Biden presidency, 44% of Americans say he had a “great/good start” while 55% say he had a “fair/poor start.” 51% say he has accomplished a “great/fair” amount while 47% say he has accomplished “some/very” little.
44% of Americans believe Biden is very to somewhat liberal. 42% say he is a moderate and 8% say he is very to somewhat conservative.
46% of us think that the Covid-19 bill signed by the President is a good idea while 25% say it is a bad idea.
When it comes to the President’s infrastructure plan, 59% believe it is a good idea while 21% believe it is a bad idea. [NBC poll 4/20/21]
(The following is based on registered voters unless indicated otherwise.)
President Biden’s job approval ratings
| Date | NBC | WP/ABC | CNN | FOX | QUINNIPIAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAY’21 | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| APR’21 | 51/43 | 52/42 | 52/45 | 54/43 | 48/42 |
| Date | AP-NORC | ECON/YOUGOV | POL/MORNCON |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAY’21 | xxx | 49/46 | 56/40 |
| APR’21 | 63/36 A | xxx | xxx |
As of May 20th, this is Biden’s approval rating based on Real Clear Politics:
| Approval | Disapproval | |
|---|---|---|
| Over all | 53.30% | 42.70% |
| On the economy | 52.30% | 41.90% |
| On foreign policy | 50% | 41.2% (thru May 4th) |
Gallup now does monthly or semi-monthly surveys of all adults. WW will include a periodic polling summary–Registered and Likely Voters–by FiveThirtyEight.
| Gallup (All Adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Reg/Likely voters) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Approval | Disapproval | Approval | Disapproval |
| 5/18/21 | 54% | 40% | 52.7% | 40.7% |
| 4/21/21 | 57% | 40% | 53.4% | 40.1% |
| 3/15/21 | 54% | 42% | 53.8% | 40.2% |
| 2/18/21 | 56% | 40% | 54.4% | 37.8% |
Here is the approval/disapproval scores that Biden receives on specific issues.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Coronavirus | 69% | 27% |
| The economy | 52% | 43% |
| Uniting the country | 52% | 43% |
| Race relations | 49% | 43% |
| Taxes and spending | 44% | 48% |
| China | 35% | 44% |
| The gun issue | 34% | 55% |
| Border security and immigration | 33% | 59% |
[NBCNews 4/20/21]
The following are the approval/disapproval ratings of President Biden by white evangelicals and those without religious affiliation.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Christian | 53% | 45% |
| Protestant | 48% | 50% |
| White evangelical | 23% | 75% |
| White, non-evangelical | 45% | 53% |
| Black protestant | 89% | 8% |
| Catholic | 64% | 35% |
| White Catholic | 51% | 48% |
| Hispanic Catholic | 80% | 19% |
| Religiously unaffiliated | 71% | 28% |
| Atheist/agnostic | 79% | 20% |
| Nothing in Particular | 67% | 33% |
[PEW 4/11/21]
About Voting
| Total | Rep/Lean | Dem/Lean | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatically registering all eligible citizens | 61% | 38% | 82% |
| Making early, in-person voting available to voters for at least two weeks prior to election day | 78% | 63% | 91% |
| Making election day a national holiday | 68% | 59% | 78% |
| Requiring all voters to show government issued photo identification to vote | 76% | 61% | 93% |
[PEW 4/11/21]
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
Because the U.S. Senate will be in Democratic hands in 2021 and the filibuster cannot be used on judicial nominees, President Biden will be able to begin affecting the federal judiciary early. The chart below reflects the number of Article III court judges appointed by every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter.
As of May 20, there were 78 vacancies out of the 870 active Article III judicial positions. There are 7 vacancies in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 69 on the District Courts, and 2 vacancies on the U.S. Court of International Trade.
President Biden has nominated 19 individuals to the district and circuit courts.
| Total | Supreme Ct | Appeals Ct | District Ct | Int’l Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biden | No judges nominated by Biden have been confirmed to date. |
||||
| Trump – 4 years | 234 | 3 | 54 | 174 | 3 |
| Obama – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 55 | 268 | |
| GW Bush – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 62 | 261 | |
| Clinton – 8 years | 373 | 2 | 66 | 305 | |
| GHW Bush – 4 years | 192 | 2 | 42 | 148 | |
| Reagan – 8 years | 376 | 3 | 83 | 290 | |
| Carter – 4 years | 259 | 0 | 56 | 203 | |
[USCourts/Wikipedia/List of federal judges appointed by Joe Biden]